Sheetal Vallabh

Practice area

Individual therapy

I work with adults who are struggling with life changes, loss, or transitions related to their personal relationships with their partners, spouses, children, other family members or friends, or related to their work or career development, health, relocation, or general life stressors, that is impacting on their ability to function optimally in their personal, social and/or professional lives.

I work with adolescents who are struggling within their family context, as a result of conflict between their parents, separation or divorce of their parents, issues related to their siblings, friends, peer groups, or any other issues pertaining to their school and social lives that is causing distress and limiting their ability to thrive and do well academically and socially.

Couple’s therapy

I work with couples that are struggling in their relationship and need to work through issues that are impacting negatively on their ability to treat each other with love, respect and kindness. These issues may be related to the way in which they are communicating, how they deal with conflict, a specific area of conflict, children, parenting, extended family dynamics, finances, intimacy and infidelity.

Family therapy

I work with families who are struggling with issues that are causing stress and unhappiness in the family as a whole such as separation and/or divorce, death of a family member, financial difficulties, work or school related problems, parenting issues, illness and relocation.

Post-separation & divorce co-parenting skills and conflict resolution

When families go through a separation and/or divorce, the relationship between the partners / spouses breaks down, however the parental relationship must be preserved for the sake of the children.

I work with parents and children to help them re-define their family system by working through the pain, the conflict and their negative feelings towards each other. I assist and guide parents to renegotiate how they relate to each other, how to parent cooperatively and collaboratively, and how to support their children to navigate between two homes and possibly two new families.

Family & Divorce Mediations

As a family and divorce mediator I work with parents to help them resolve all issues pertaining to the ending of their relationship and/or marriage. In this process I also work with the children in the family to hear and see how they are coping and to identify their emotional needs before I prepare a parenting plan.

If necessary I work collaboratively with lawyers and other professionals in a multi-disciplinary team to support a family through a separation and or divorce process.

My therapeutic approach and orientation

I have been trained in the psychodynamic tradition which primarily informs my thinking and understanding of what is happening psychologically for my client. This means that I am interested in understanding the underlying psychological dynamics and unconscious processes that develop in early childhood and which affects a person’s thinking, feelings and behaviour in the present. I also draw on the principles and techniques of other psychological theories such as cognitive behaviour therapy, narrative therapy and family systems therapy. Ultimately, how I work with an individual, couple or family is informed by my clients’ needs and therefore I am flexible in how I approach any therapeutic intervention.

Personal Statement

People may seek therapeutic input for two reasons: (1) to work through a current issue, life-change or crisis that they are struggling to cope with, or (2) to deal with a long-standing wound that continues to limit them from living fully in the world and/or is affecting their relationships with others, or their academic or professional careers. Therefore therapy is a personal journey of healing, growth and transformation towards leading a life that is productive, fulfilling and meaningful.

As a therapist I am mindful of and guided by my clients’ needs and wants in their process. I am committed to working within an approach that best serves their emotional wellbeing, within the professional and ethical rules and guidelines of my profession.

Accordingly, my therapeutic and mediation work is informed and guided by sound theoretical underpinnings and best practices. I am committed to on-going training and supervision in both the fields of clinical psychology and mediation.

I strive to be present, open and compassionate to whatever my clients bring to the process.